CEMO says shelters will survive the storm

zenaida moya-flowers

The weather report is coming up later in the newscast and will have more on the tropical storm. But earlier this morning, the Belize City Council, more specifically the City Emergency Management Organization, CEMO, made final preparations for hurricane shelters.  The plans will avoid chaos for residents in Belize City, which is the most densely populated urban area in the country with around seventy thousand residents.  Chair of CEMO, Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers, says they are bracing for the worst.

Zenaida Moya Flowers, Chair, City Emergency Management Organization

“The shelters overall, they could be at a better level than what they are, but we do have to work with what we have and just to ensure that they are at a workable level up to a category two at least.  Anything above that, we definitely will be taking our people out.  We ask the public that in the event they can move out of the city and they have the means to do so on their own, they do so.  We will open the shelters if the need arise, only if the need arise.  There is prediction of there being possible flooding and there will be some sustained winds, it is being expected, but the flooding is also a concern because many people live in homes that are on the ground and so they cannot be sleeping on water.  So if flooding arise, we have to ensure that the shelters are open and it all has to do with how strong the winds are, how long it lasts over our city, the country, that the flooding will be a problem.”

Persons who may need to go to a shelter are expected to take their supply of food, water, medication and baby supplies, if necessary.  The Council along with the sanitation companies, have cleared drains and manholes in anticipation of rains.